Thursday, February 11, 2010

Block 31. A Stitch in Time

A stitch in time. . . Block 31 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

BEARD, D.H., Block 31

This is most likely David H. Beard, cobbler and owner of the Fulton Shoe Shop on North Gaither Street.David H. Beard 1884 - 1971 and wife Pearl Beard 1893 - 1925 and children moved to Fulton about 1924 at which time he opened a cobbler shop.In 1930 he is listed as a widower and a cobbler in Fulton; later he remarried Mittie Burch 1906 - 2000.The Beards are buried in White Church Cemetery.

There is a wonderful cover picture of cobbler David Beard and story in the Spring 2006 Itawamba Settlers, the quarterly journal of the Itawamba Historical Society.

That no other Beard name appears with D.H. Beard on Block 31 probably indicates that the quilt was made prior to his remarriage.

In 1930, Lloyd Bonds is listed as the 12 year-old son of William A. and Stella Bonds of East Pine Street, Amory, Monroe County where his father was employed as a purchasing agent for a lumber mill.

Lloyd is listed as one year and eleven months old on the 1920 census when his family was living in the Boyd's Precinct, Monroe County.His father, William A. Bonds, was the manager of a farm on Bigbee-Cotton Gin Road.William A., 40, wife Stella, 40, sons Hollis, 13, Milton, 11, and Lloyd, 1, comprised the Bonds household of 1920.

On the earlier 1910 census of Mantachie, W. A. Bonds and family were enumerated as living on the Cotton Gin-Marietta Road in Itawamba County.

Reba Mary Dilworth Bourland was the wife of William Chester Bourland of Itawamba County.Mr. Bourland was the Postmaster of Fulton Post Office about 1950.She is the mother of Mary and Martha Bourland.

Reba Bourland was born July 31, 1896 and died December 1973.Her last residence was in Fulton according to the SSI Death Index.

See additional information at W.C. Bourland, Block 36.

POWELL, Mr., Block 31

According to IHS Librarian Marilyn Leary, this is probably Rupert Powell.On the 1920 census of Fulton, Rupert Powell, age 23, is listed with wife Effie C. Powell.

On the 1930 census, Rupert Powell, 33, a resident of Beat 5, is listed as having the occupation of "Census Enumerator." In Mr. Powell's household were wife Effie C., 34, daughter Gladys O., 4, and son James R., 2.

POWELL, Mrs., Block 31

According to IHS Librarian Marilyn Leary, this is probably Mrs. Rubert Powell.On the 1920 census of Fulton, the wife of Rubert is identified as Effie C.Powell.

See information at Mr. Powell above.

SHEFFIELD, Ezell, Block 31

Ezell "Zeke" Sheffield was the father of IHS member Joe Sheffield.

Ezell Sheffield is also known as William Ezell "Zeke" Sheffield.Born 1895 in Itawamba, Zeke was the son of Early Jasper Sheffield and Nancy Lorena Wood Sheffield. He died 1972 and is buried in Lee Memorial, Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi.He was the husband of Ruth Alice Boren Sheffield.

The 1930 census of Mantachie, Fulton-Guntown Road, lists the household of cotton ginner William E. Sheffield, 35, to include wife Ruth A., 25, and son Joe P., 4 months.

See additional information at Mrs. Z. Sheffield and at Mrs. Ruth Sheffield at Blocks 09 and 40.

WREN, T.E., Block 31

Thomas E. Wren is identified as a barber owning his own shop in Fulton on the 1920 census.Then he was 28 years old and his household consisted of wife Louise J., 26, son Nathan, 7, and daughter Ruby M., 5.

Tom E., Wren, 38, widower, is listed as a barber on the Fulton census of 1930.Included in his household on Mattox Street were daughter Ruby M, 15, and sons John H., 17, James M, 9, Thomas E, 6, and C.T., 11 months.

Thanks to IHS member Joe Sheffield for help with the transcription of this block.

If you have additional information about any of the names on this quilt square, please post a comment below. Your help is needed to "write" the story of this almost eighty-year old quilt.

A stitch in time . . . The 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt

Be a part of the 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt project sponsored by the Itawamba Historical Society. Subscribe to the quilt by making donations to the Society and having your family names embroidered on the quilt or volunteer to help by appliquéing, piecing, or quilting. Contact the Society at 662-282-7664 for details.

SOURCES:

Family information from Memories from Itawamba County: A Friendship Quilt circa 1931 --- A Stitch in Time by Terry Thornton with assistance from Members of the Itawamba Historical Society, Itawamba Settlers, Quarterly Journal of the Itawamba County, Mississippi, History and Genealogy. Winter 2009, Pages 143-61.